Q&A with Ahmet Kayhan by The National about UAE property markets

Ahmet Kayhan, the chief executive of the property information group Reidin, talks to The National about the Abu Dhabi and Dubai markets.

What does your data tell you about the fortunes of the local property market? There has been a positive trend in the residential market in the last six quarters, and in specific areas of the market. Dubai offers one of the best rental yields for residential property among peer cities across the globe. We are confident about the Dubai residential market in general, considering there is not much competition in the region, its finished infrastructure and settled communities offering an international lifestyle.

Is the property market here becoming more transparent? We have invested heavily in increasing the transparency of the markets by developing rental and sales price indexes both for Dubai and Abu Dhabi and going deeper on the building level through field surveys and the consolidation of asking-price data.

Do you expect to see developers become more active this year? Absolutely. As a matter of fact, we see lots of new and old developers coming to the market. Specifically, Emaar’s recent project launch triggered lots of interest from other developers sitting on a good pile of land around freehold areas.

What’s your big prediction for property this year? In our business, there is a saying: “You have the data, or you don’t, there is no middle”. Hence I can speak on the basis of the data. I believe Dubai residential will continue its growth. The office market is stabilising but needs longer. I don’t see Abu Dhabi recovering soon, and we think both rental and sales markets will go down further considering the level of upcoming new supply.